Chapter 112 Leader

Chapter 112 Leader

Atticus came out of his thoughts to see Ember, Aurora, and the rest of the trainees approaching him.

He couldn't react as suddenly a petite girl collided with his already struggling form, making him fall on his back.

Atticus felt a huge wave of pain wrack his body, and despite not being a stranger to pain, he couldn't help but let out a low grunt.

He looked down at his chest to see the source of his problems: Aurora, who hugged him with her face buried in his chest. nove-lb/In

As he was about to complain, he suddenly felt wetness on his chest where Aurora's head was buried.

Atticus let out a warm smile at Aurora's quiet sobbing. He raised his hand, giving her gentle pats on her head. 'She must have been worried,' he thought.

However, he just couldn't resist, "You were always a crybaby," he teased Aurora with a chuckle.

She immediately flinched, letting out a low-pitched sound, and then she cleaned off her tears on his clothes and gave him a swift punch in the stomach, which caused Atticus's face to scrunch.

She quickly stood up and retorted, "Who's a crybaby!?"

Atticus let out a chuckle, rubbing his stomach where Aurora had just punched while standing up.

As soon as he stood up, another figure suddenly hugged him, but this hug was a bit more subdued, muttering in a barely audible tone, "I'm glad you're okay."

Atticus, seeing Ember hug him, widened his eyes in astonishment. The silent, cold beauty actually hugged him? He was completely shocked.

Don't get him wrong; he knew that despite her cold character, she loved him and the family deep down, but this was the first time she was showing it openly.

Atticus gave another warm smile and gently patted her head, without any teasing remarks this time. He didn't want to say anything that would discourage her from acting like this; he liked caring Ember.

Lucas's thoughts were different from the other trainees. Yes, he acknowledged Atticus's strength, but was there a reason to fear it? No.

Most of them were 10 years old, with the oldest being 13. Almost everyone in the human domain was stronger than them. Would he start fearing everyone he met just because they were stronger than him?

Lucas's mind was currently focused on one thing: how to get closer to Atticus. It was obvious, very obvious that Atticus would become someone very strong in the future, probably even the next paragon rank of the family.

The earlier he made a connection, the better.

Atticus gazed at all the trainees; they were all gathered around him. He saw the way they were looking at him, with caution.

But with the way they were all still gathered around, regardless of the fear, it was obvious they were waiting for his words. They now thought of him as their leader.

Atticus would be lying if he said that he wanted others to see his full strength, but there was no helping it. His life was on the line, and he'd be a fool not to use everything in his repertoire to survive.

Despite knowing that they wanted him to address them, Atticus knew they weren't out of the woods yet; they were still being hunted. But he still had to give them a little push.

Atticus gazed at the trainees and spoke, "I can't say I understand how you all are feeling currently. Some of you probably lost someone close to you in the camp,"

His words caused some of the trainees to clench their hands, tears streaming down their faces as they tried to use their sleeves to wipe them away.

Atticus let out a quiet sigh seeing this. 'They're still children at the end of the day,' he thought.

He continued, "And I can't say I know exactly what is currently on your minds. But what I do know is that we all want the same thing: to survive."

The forest was silent; only the sound of Atticus's voice could be heard, each trainee listening attentively.

"I promise you, there will be time for revenge later, but to have that later, we must survive first. We're not out of the woods yet, we're still being hunted, and we have to keep moving."

As he said this, Atticus pivoted, taking a deep breath to contain the pain racking his body. He took a step forward and began running through the forest, with every single trainee following behind.

They continued moving through the forest.